June 2011 marks the start of an exciting period for me; cos many new things are happening (or happened) at the same time. Even though I did plan for them to happen, I definitely didn't plan for them to happen at the same time, it just... happened that way. It would be nice if each thing happened at least two months apart of the other so that I could ease into things better, but then where would the challenge be??
Early arrival of baby Gideon
His actual due date (as calculated by the doctors) was supposed to be the 24th of June. His grandma even planned to fly in to Melbourne on the 21st so that she could help out here and there prior to his arrival. But baby Gideon (or Prince Gideon as the Missus prefers to call him now) couldn't wait till the 24th and 'decided' he has to pop-out 15 days earlier! What's more exciting is that I actually had my PhD confirmation presentation scheduled on that exact day! By God's grace, I was given a window of opportunity to scoot off from the hospital to Uni to give my presentation, nail it (thank God!), and rush back to the hospital to hold the Missus' hand while she went through her contractions and finally push out the baby 7 hours later. So now we have this little bundle of joy (and cries and pee and poo) keeping us occupied pretty much 24/7.
PhD
So it seems like the PhD didn't have a fantastic start with my first presentation not going well and my second presentation clashing with the birth of Gideon. Still, it has officially started. Now, although I have a rough idea of what I am working towards, it really is murky waters I am swimming into, unexplored grounds I am entering, and new insights I am hoping to gain; and that I guess is the whole point of doing this PhD. But to really put things into perspective, what I might achieve at the end would probably be like contributing a small drop of water into a whole ocean of knowledge in engineering and science. Nevertheless, it will be hard work and it will take up every ounce of brain juice I can muster up. I am hoping to complete this within a year though I have no idea if it is actually possible.
Sports science traineeship
The Victorian Institute of Sport runs a Sports science traineeship program every year that lasts for twelve months and it is usually open to students doing a exercise and sports science degree. However this year they decided to open this traineeship to students from other disciplines such as statistics, nutrition and engineering. Needless to say, I applied for it and with only ten spots available in the traineeship, it is definitely a miracle that I managed to get on it. From a discussion with one of the resident sports scientist, I was told that I would probably be given work on a project basis, to resolve technical or engineering issues pertaining to performance analysis of athletes. However I still put my hand up to be involved in the traditional sports science stuff; so I might have opportunities to do some physiological or field testing of athletes down the road. Interesting stuff I reckon.
Anyway, as I was saying, it's going to be exciting times ahead... exciting times.
Early arrival of baby Gideon
PhD
So it seems like the PhD didn't have a fantastic start with my first presentation not going well and my second presentation clashing with the birth of Gideon. Still, it has officially started. Now, although I have a rough idea of what I am working towards, it really is murky waters I am swimming into, unexplored grounds I am entering, and new insights I am hoping to gain; and that I guess is the whole point of doing this PhD. But to really put things into perspective, what I might achieve at the end would probably be like contributing a small drop of water into a whole ocean of knowledge in engineering and science. Nevertheless, it will be hard work and it will take up every ounce of brain juice I can muster up. I am hoping to complete this within a year though I have no idea if it is actually possible.
Sports science traineeship
The Victorian Institute of Sport runs a Sports science traineeship program every year that lasts for twelve months and it is usually open to students doing a exercise and sports science degree. However this year they decided to open this traineeship to students from other disciplines such as statistics, nutrition and engineering. Needless to say, I applied for it and with only ten spots available in the traineeship, it is definitely a miracle that I managed to get on it. From a discussion with one of the resident sports scientist, I was told that I would probably be given work on a project basis, to resolve technical or engineering issues pertaining to performance analysis of athletes. However I still put my hand up to be involved in the traditional sports science stuff; so I might have opportunities to do some physiological or field testing of athletes down the road. Interesting stuff I reckon.
Anyway, as I was saying, it's going to be exciting times ahead... exciting times.
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